Owner pleads for dog back after adoption mistake

A Harker Heights woman is praying she gets her dog back after a mix-up, where her one-year-old black lab was adopted out to another family after getting loose.

Author:
Chris Rogers

Published:
6:32 PM CDT May 11, 2017

Updated:
9:51 PM CDT May 12, 2017

A Harker Heights woman is praying she gets her dog back after a mix-up, where her one-year-old black lab was adopted out to another family after getting loose.

Christine Bockin was getting ready inside her home in Bell County on April 29, when the dog -- named Mila -- ran outside after seeing another dog being walked at the end of her street. Bockin said she ran outside after Mila, but by the time she reached the end of the road, the dog was nowhere to be found.

Mila was found a few streets away by a Good Samaritan, who inexplicably took her 45 miles away to the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter, according to Bockin. She was then turned over to the Austin Humane Society, which held her for the required 72 hours, before putting Mila up for adoption. Her name was changed to Amber and she was adopted immediately to someone else.

During that whole ordeal, Bockin said she posted missing dog signs, searched social media and contacted local animal shelters looking for her precious Mila. She never thought to check an animal shelter -- all the way in Austin.

Bockin said someone eventually pieced together what happened to Mila and called her on the phone. But, by the time Bockin went to claim her dog, it was too late.

The Humane Society cannot release the adoptive family's name to Bockin. But, Bockin has been writing letters to the family for the shelter to pass along to Mila's new owner. She said she desperately wants them to understand the mix-up and return Mila. But, she has not heard back.

"Please give me my dog back," Bockin said -- fighting back tears. "She's not just a dog. I'm not married. I don't have kids. I have my fur babies. They are my family."

Bockin said she has no doubt the person who found Mila had good intentions, but she hopes her situation reminds Good Samaritans turning in animals to bring them to a shelter close to where they were found.